VietACT's 2006 Human Rights Night was a great success! I'm exhausted and I need to get sleep before our board of directors meeting tomorrow so I will keep this short (or as brief as possible, we all know that I'm super wordy).

I've been making several appearances on Vietnamese television and radio and a few questions keep on coming up. Especially, 1. what stories have you heard from the victims/survivors in Taiwan have changed you? and 2. now that you're back home in Orange County, CA, how do you see yourself still helping those victims/survivors? Sometimes I feel that I'm not yet fully prepared to talk about the stories and particular persons who truly touched my heart and made me question my own existence, question the world we live in, the politics involved, and basically the human emotions that drive people to do bad, that drive people to do desperate things, and more importantly, what drives people to do good. Some of the emotions and stories I heard and came across this past summer are still fresh, are still very intense, and I am still digesting and taking my time to try to find a way to recount the stories of my Vietnamese sisters and brothers in Taiwan in a way that does them justice. For now, all I can say is that I was truly inspired by their courage. This leads to the second question: what now? And ladies and gentlemen, Human Rights Night was the perfect answer.

100+ citizens from our community braved cold weather (and even rain!) to join VietACT for Human Rights Night. We managed to teleconference with dissidents in Viet Nam and their testimonies, their hopes, their message to our community moved me to tears. We had support from the young, the twenty-something year olds, politicians, the wise elders of our community (and even a few canine guests!) The week before I left Taiwan, I spent a majority of the nights crying in bed. I didn't know how to say good-bye to the friends I had made, to the family of survivors who adopted me and fed me and taught me Vietnamese. I also didn't know what could be done for their sake, to bring them justice, to vindicate the suffering they have gone through. Tonight, I felt like I was part of something that was doing something for the human trafficking survivors, I felt a strong sense of justice and a strong sense solidarity and pride. I almost cried several times tonight. But these tears were different from the ones I cried in Taiwan. When you see a dream of yours come true, when you realize that you are making the dreams of those less fortunate come true, when you realize that you are part of something meaningful, you can't help but cry.

Before I left Taiwan, several of the survivors came to me and told me, "I don't think we will ever see each other again but I want you to know that you've touched my heart." Tonight, as I looked out to the crowd of those gathered at Human Rights Night, I saw the faces of my Vietnamese brothers and sisters and it touched my heart. We are all courageous, those who survived trafficking, those who survived war, those who survived adversary, those who have overcome fear.

Be not afraid, be the change. Do not hesitate to be something great in our community and something great for our community.

Here is a letter I wrote before I came to Taiwan (it was a letter I read to VietACT Walk Against Trafficking Participants):

Dear my Vietnamese sister and brother, one whose face I have not yet seen, whose story is not mine but whose pain I share,

When I first heard stories about you feeling helpless, defenseless, and hopeless, I promised myself that I would make my life meaningful by giving you an advocate, a voice, a friend. Although we might be separated by oceans, state borders, or walls, the fact that this is happening to you, my Vietnamese sister, my Vietnamese brother, makes your anguish mine. The fact that our community has been called on to do something for you makes your struggle ours. Dear sister, brother, the next time I hear your story, I promise you that you will be able to tell me your story in person. I promise to be your voice, advocate, and friend. I promise to give you hope, I promise that you will be defended, I promise to help. Dear sister, brother, I pledge to you that the pain we have will become a love we share.

My message to Cha Hung, TaiwanACT and gia dinh (my family here in Taiwan): Thank you, everyone, for sharing your stories with me and leaving a deep and profound impact on my life. I promise to keep my pledge to you - to be your voice and advocate when I get back to the States and thank you for being my friend and a source of affection and inspiration during my two months in Taiwan. I will never forget the faces I've met, the stories I have heard, and most importantly, the love we shared. I will cherish my memories of the office and all my friends and hope you have faith in knowing that our experiences here have left a lasting impression on my heart.

God bless,
Vi-vi

It was a super hot and super quiet day at work. I found Cha Hung laying on the floor with his arms sprawled out. He had his eyes closed. I went, "Cha Hung! Are you okay?" He peered at me with one eye open, the other eye closed and said, "Oh, I'm just really tired."

I wish a bad day at the office meant that the internet is down, the air conditioner doesn't work, and everyone is cranky. The truth is: the internet is down, the air conditioner doesn't work, everyone is cranky and then there's the added stress of dealing with the victims. It has been, undoubtedly, a bad day at work and my emotions are haywire.

When someone asked what I'm going to be doing when I get back to the States, I told her my plans, hopes, and what I plan on taking from Taiwan back with me. She told me that she was touched. I hope the people at home will be too.

"If you take a look around, everyone one of us, you, me, people home in the States, we are the faces of human trafficking."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we are all hurt by it."

Thanks to my lovely friends in the States and the care package they sent me with 18 pairs of two-tone socks, I was able to teach the ladies how to make sock monkeys implementing key words we've learned in our weekly English classes such as "monkey" "head" and "eye"





I went out and bought oil pastels, watercolors, poster paint and paper during the week we learned colors and emotions ("I miss Viet Nam").

One of my favorite students drew this and implemented phrases she learned in class:



Here are some brokers eating up all the money:



Here is a pastel I drew of Cha Hung:

This week has been emotionally trying. Several notable things happened: a stray dog showed up at the shelter, some brokers showed up (equally as uninvited yet a lot less pleasant than the dog), and we made a trip to Taiwan's Legail Aid Foundation.

"Can we keep her? Pretty please! Please Cha Hung, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase!"

A black labrador retreiver showed up at the shelter. She made herself at home and climbed up the stairs and into the office while we were all busy working/cooking. At first Cha Hung told us to take her out but she kept on following us back in the gate and we couldn't say good-bye to her so we made her stay downstairs. When I started my English lesson, she climbed up the stairs and crashed my class so the ladies and I let her sleep under our table and next to a fan. We named her "Puppy" but by the time I showed up at the shelter the next day, she was gone. I miss her but I'm starting to get used to sorrowful good-bye's. I've been keeping myself up at night wondering what I will be able to say the day I need to leave the family I've made here. Surely, I won't just run through the gate in the morning without even a bark good-bye (much like what Puppy did).

A few uninvited brokers showed up at the office and there was a heated argument at the gate. I don't know how much I can say about the argument and why they showed up here but all I have to say is that brokers are a different breed of people. What's worst is that they use Vietnamese people to interpret for them and why these Vietnamese people think it's okay to abuse the political and legal system, manipulate words, and worst, to abuse other Vietnamese people is beyond me. I hope to be able to elaborate more on this in the near future.

Lastly, Cha Hung, Chen Chen (TaiwanACT's intern) and I went to Taipei today to go to the Taiwan Legal Aid Foundation's second anniversary. It's amazing that there is a Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) and even more amazing that Cha Hung sits on the Board of Directors but since this is only the second year they've been in operation and only a few lawyers actually volunteer for LAF, there's still a lot more that can be done. I am always interested in hearing about the legal processes of other countries and even more curious about why people choose to study law/become lawyers. Needless to say, I am always more disappointed to hear that people only want to be lawyers to make money. I don't know how it's going to be when I come back to "money-grubbin' Chapman" (or so an undisclosed law professors called it); this experience in Taiwan has made me completely rethink how I am going to approach my last year in law school and my law career in general.

I am constantly being asked, "You're from America? Why are you here?" Ever since the day those brokers and Vietnamese interpreters came, it has become quite clear why I am here. I tell people that I live a pretty privileged life in America, I have had the opportunity to study law and equip myself with pretty powerful knowledge, and more importantly, I have been blessed with friends and an amazing Vietnamese community that is highly conscious of what's happening to Vietnamese people world-wide. I am here because people like those brokers exist. I told the office staff here, "I wonder what that Vietnamese broker/interpreter thinks about before going to bed tonight. I wonder if she remembers she is Vietnamese too. More importantly, I wonder if she realizes that the person her company abused was Vietnamese also."

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

"She came in through the bathroom window..."

So a snake climbed in through the bathroom window at the VMWBO office last night (mind you the snake had to make its way up to the second story). So what did the women at the shelter do? They smashed in its head and made porridge with it. And then Cha Hung ate the snake's heart (this might a rumor but it was neither refuted or affirmed by Cha Hung who simply shrugged).

Chi My Nga, if you're reading this, I hope you and your family made it to the States safely! You too Cha Cuong! We dropped off one of the sister's at the airport this morning and it was a tearful good-bye. I had a heart-to-heart with Cha Hung earlier this week and it has changed how I view my job here in Taiwan and the work that Cha Hung and the socials workers here have cut out for them. At the airport one of the social workers pointed out the brokers over here in Taiwan and I agree with the office when they tell Cha Hung to get some life insurance! Those are some scary people.

I will write more when I am not so sleepy (from waking up at 5 AM); I just wanted to post to make sure everyone knew I was still alive over here.

Cha Hung returned yesterday evening which means the office has been very excited (especially excited about the Swiss chocolates he brought us). The night before Cha Hung returned, a few of the girls and I stayed at the office until 1 AM watching World Cup with Cha Cuong and anxiously waiting for Cha Hung's arrival. Needless to say he showed up 14 hours later. Cha Hung didn't tell us to pick him up from the airport so we have all been speculating as to how he got back to the office. Some of the staff at the office have interesting theories about Cha Hung having a girlfriend, but for a man with such a busy agenda, I doubt he has the time for that! I don't think anyone is more excited about Cha Hung's arrival than Cha Cuong who will be leaving us for the States in a week. Nonetheless, I was really excited to see Cha Hung again and congratulate him in person about his hero status in the latest Trafficking in Persons report.

Loc Nguyen wrote me an email asking if some of the women at the shelter wouldn't mind leaving a note or so on this VietACT intern blog. Well, that's a tricky question. Before I left for Taiwan, I gathered a few letters that participants wrote at the SoCal Walk Against Trafficking at one of the stations. My goal is to have the women at the shelter write reply letters to all the people who care about them by the time my English classes here come to an end. Today they learned "I like to eat (insert tropical fruit here). And you?" So unless Loc Nguyen and others are ready to respond with a fruit the Vietnamese women here are familiar with (try cherimoya, lychee, rambutan, etc.) a written response by one of the ladies here will have to wait until we master "Do you have a girlfriend/wife?" Are you ready to answer that question, Mr. Nguyen?!

On another note, because of the situation the women here have been placed in, emotions run rampant. I have been working on not letting the emotional outbursts and breakdowns get to me personally but it is hard because we are all human and it is never easy to see another person suffer. The atmosphere at the shelter is very unnatural and women of different ages, temperaments, backgrounds, maturity and varying degrees of abuse are forced to live with each other. Needless to say, some women are really strong and mixed with female tendencies of jealousy, manipulation and viciousness, sometimes I feel as if I am living in my own reality television show or a Vietnamese version of Mean Girls.

Sometimes I get disappointed because I can't stand watching people continue to put others through abuse after they, themselves, had suffered abuse (did that make sense?). But I really can't pass any judgment because I can't say that I wouldn't be the same way or do the same thing in their situation.

Anyway, this post was full of double negatives and I hope it didn't put a negative spin on the work that is being done over here. The important thing to focus on is, as Cha Hung put it after I congratulated him on being a hero, "There is still a lot of work to be done."

So I say, to hell with the drama and cheers to pursuing "superhero" status.

Dear friends,

It seems that the sisters here at the shelter have really started to take on me, and so have the mosquitoes. Everytime I get a mosquito bite it becomes a large welt and bruise and the talk of the office. The sisters and staff at the office have all offered their own suggestions as to how I should avoid the mosquitoes. Cha Cuong said I should set up a mosquito net in my room and sleep outside of the net because the mosquitoes will be too busy trying to get inside the net to bother the person sleeping outside of the net. It's this type of humor that goes on at the office that helps me get through the day and I am sure it's this type of humor that comforts the sisters enough to stay here at the shelter.

Since I've been here, I've seen several people come and go. Some of them go back to Viet Nam, some of them find jobs and leave, some of them run away from their jobs and employers and seek shelter here with us. There are mixed feelings about each situation. Some are happy to go back to Viet Nam because they're time here is up (under Taiwanese law, foreign workers can only work here for a maximum of three years) and they miss their families, especially their children. Some are unhappy because they do not want to go home to Viet Nam and their families "tay trang" (empty handed).

For the most part, everyone here is anxious. They have lawsuits which may or may not be successful and they are desperate for some sort of assurance that they will be able to send money home to their families in Viet Nam. This type of desperation has led some of the women here to think about running away before they are to be sent back to Viet Nam and try to seek jobs illegally. This has made the office staff very anxious and I find myself staying up at night listening for the door at the shelter open and close, taking a mental count of all the sisters and making sure they all come home. I know that sometimes your heart wins over your mind and that fear may sometimes cloud reasoning. Thus, I can sympathize for the sisters who want to seek drastic and vulnerable measures such as running away from our shelter, but I have grown really attached to them in the short time that I've been here and do not want to see them abused anymore than they already have been by a system that has not taken sufficient means to protect them. I am talking about both the Taiwanese and Vietnamese government. By the way, the office has been celebrating ever since the 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report was released, we can't wait to get our hands on a hard copy!

When I first arrived here and was getting to know the women and men at the shelter, I noticed that everyone looked familiar. There was a man who looked exactly like my friend's older brother! I had to do a double take and found myself staring to make sure that this really wasn't someone I knew from the States. There are women who look exactly like my aunts and cousins and some speak mien Hue just like my mom. I came to the realization that human trafficking really is a crime that is happening to our brothers and sisters, to faces we know, to people who speak our language. However, now that I have gotten to know everyone on a personal level, I have started looking at human trafficking at the individual level. Now that I know their stories and their voices, I can recognize their chatter from a distance (they are loud!) and I am able to wish each person "chuc chi ngu ngon" (have a good night) as they walk through the door. I can then let out a sigh out of relief as each sister makes it home to the shelter safely.

P.S. Happy super belated birthday to Miss Tammy Tran (the hardest working woman in the world)! And a Happy Birthday to computer whiz Minh T. Nguyen.

Dear Friends,

All is well in Taiwan, or as well as things can be in a country where the weather is unbearable and the issue of human trafficking is more than detestable. After two weeks here at the shelter and the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office (VWMBO aka TaiwanACT), the women and men are getting used to me and have started opening up to me. They are very eager to talk about their children and even more eager to ask if I have children. Apparently, at twenty-two I am three years past my prime "getting married and raising children" age. Although the sisters here seem a bit jaded about their experiences with men, they put on a very strong front and Cha Cuong (Associate Executive Director here at VWMBO) has talked to me about how each person here as a personal and painful story. As I write this blog post, I can hear Cha Cuong give a lecture to the brothers and sisters here at the shelter on how to cope with anger and pain. As I enter my third week in Taiwan, I am touched by the support the VWMBO staff offer for the victims, I am motivated by the courage of all the men and women here at the shelter and I am grateful for VietACT for sending me here.

The TaiwanACT and I teach a total of four English language classes per week. Last week's English class involved numbers, money, and sightseeing which coincided with our weekend field trip to Taipei 101 (the world's largest building and fastest elevator). This week's English lesson involves the Food Pyramid and this weekend we will make keo dau phong (Vietnamese peanut brittle). We try our best to lighten the mood here at the shelter.

This past weekend, one of the sisters entered my room in the middle of the night and cried to me. This was the first time I actually saw how much pain these women are in. I did my best to console her but it was hard for me to express how I really felt. I struggled with my emotions and my limited Vietnamese vocabulary and told her to cheer up because she is in a much better place physically here at VWMBO and emotionally with all of the support Cha Hung, Cha Cuong, Chi My-Nga, and the rest of the staff here than where she was a few months ago. But what she said in response resonated with me for days: "Living in the here and now is difficult, but living for an uncertain future is worst." How can she avoid returning to Viet Nam "tay trang" (empty handed)?

I know that the VWMBO staff is working on her case here, but I have been thinking about what she said and realize that living for an uncertain future truly is worst. Thus, it is important to focus on prevention and public awareness.

With that said, the brothers and sisters here at the shelter and the staff at the VWMBO are deeply touched and grateful for all of the donations, dedication, and efforts of everyone who participated in the Relay Against Trafficking. Ever since I got here, I have been boasting about the numbers of participants, volunteers, and funds raised. Everybody here is very proud, I think the proudest person is me.